In September 2009, three ambitious women launched Ottawa’s first Girl Geek Dinner. Melany Gallant, Kelly Rusk and Veronica Giggey spent months preparing and collectively used their expertise to form a Girl Geek community Ottawa could call its own. Three years later, these women were able to build a community of 1,300 Girl Geeks and it continues to grow with each passing season. They’ve been dedicated to organizing these events so women can meet and learn from some of the brightest women in the city, over good food and great company.

While it’s been an amazing three years for the team, Melany, Kelly and Veronica are passing their dinner plates over to a new set of inspired Girl Geeks: Samantha Hartley, Dynimul Mao, Nyree Costello, and Amelia Stein. Working with a strong foundation in place, these women will make up the new GGDOttawa planning team:

Samantha Hartley is a second-year co-organizer who had the pleasure of working with and learning from the original three musketeers. By day, she works at The Conference Board of Canada as a direct marketer and by night, she also volunteers for Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa and the International Association of Business Communicators Ottawa Chapter. Samantha loves writing and playing sports, and she’s very excited to hang out with the Girl Geeks for another season.

Amelia Stein is a past volunteer for GGDOttawa and a huge fan! She’s a tech-comms junkie and research enthusiast, working at Ramius Corporation as support for its online qualitative research software. As a self-professed foodie, she’s pumped to try the different restaurants this season has to offer.

Nyree Costello has been a professional communicator for over 10 years. She is an active blogger (thepublicistdiaries.com), photographer and mother to two dogs. In her free time she plays competitive roller derby, volunteers with the Canadian Public Relations Society and plays a mean air guitar.

Dyni Mao is studying at University of Ottawa and will be graduating soon with joint Honours in Computer Science and Mathematics. She’s a member of the IEEE-WIE and loves to play badminton, soccer, and beach volleyball. She’s excited to lend a hand to a good cause and looking forward to having fun in the process!

On behalf of the new planning team, we’re very passionate about kicking off the fourth season and it’s shaping up to be interesting and engaging! To give you a little sneak peek, our first event will feature Amanda Shendruk, founder of Aesthetic Intelligence and a leading expert in data visualization. Amanda believes data is a driving force to decision-making and it should reflect visual creativity to improve understanding and clarity. Save the date for our next event: Wednesday November 21, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Black Tomato. Stay tuned for our official event announcement in the next couple of days.

We’d like to leave you with a video of GGDOttawa’s claim to fame back in 2009. Thank you again Melany, Kelly and Veronica for putting food on our plates and knowledge in our brains!

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Ottawa Girl Geek Dinners are an offshoot of the London Girl Geek Dinners, started by Sarah Blow. The goal of these get-togethers is to make technology accessible and interesting to all age groups and all people, particularly women.

These monthly events are aimed at providing a welcoming atmosphere and a platform for learning in an informal environment. They are always held in pubs, bars or restos and there is usually a speaker (or several) who talk for a short while on a chosen subject for the evening.

Follow us on Twitter @ggdottawa
The hash tag for our events is: #ggdottawa